SOCIOLOGY
          CRIME
      AND DEVIANCE
     Activities And Web Links
                                                                       Crime and Deviance  
                    Crime and Deviance 
                     
                    Introduction 
                     
                    Crime  and  Deviance  is  a  major  topic  in  Sociology  but  one  that  many  students  find 
                    difficult.  This  is  in  part  because  of  the  fragmentation  and  diversity  of  the  different 
                    approaches,  making  it  difficult  for  both  teacher  and  student  to  establish  links  and 
                    connections  between  them.  This  video  attempts  to  address  these  difficulties  by 
                    developing a framework to help clarify the similarities and differences between these very 
                    different approaches to crime and deviance. 
                     
                    We have also taken account of the dramatic shift in the focus of research in recent years 
                    away from deviance and theorising about crime, towards crime control and prevention. 
                    We look at how the field is changing and how some of the ‘newer’ approaches can be 
                    linked to the more ‘familiar’ ones. 
                     
                    The structure of both the video and the booklet is based on the idea that sociological 
                    theories of Crime and Deviance can be usefully divided into theories of: 
                     
                               Social Causation 
                          
                               Social Construction 
                     
                               Social Control 
                     
                    This division not only helps to clarify some of the diversity in the area, it also reflects 
                    some general traditions of sociological thought, the implications of which go well beyond 
                    crime and deviance.  
                     
                    This framework is also useful in adopting a chronological approach, as in the video, to 
                    the teaching of the topic of crime and deviance. The idea here is to illustrate that theories 
                    are  influenced  by  cultural  changes  in  wider  society  and  ideas  also  go  in  and  out  of 
                    fashion. 
                     
                    Before showing the video: 
                     
                    Ask your students about their own experiences of crime.  
                    Have they or anyone they know been the victim of a crime?  
                    Have they ever been stopped by the police for questioning?  
                    Do they have a view about the typical criminal? 
                    What crimes or deviant behaviour will they admit to? 
                     
                     
                     
                     
                                                                
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                                                                       Crime and Deviance  
                    Section 1: Origins of the Sociology of Crime and Deviance 
                     
                    Crime has always been with us but different historical periods have had different ways of 
                    analysing and responding to crime. This video begins with a brief look at the origins of 
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                    the study of crime in the 18  Century. Although there won’t be questions on this in the 
                    exam, it helps put the subject in its historical and social context, whilst bringing a sense 
                    of continuity to the subject and helping place changes in focus and ‘new’ developments 
                    into a wider context. As the video says, ideas go in and out of fashion and some of the 
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                    newest ideas on crime prevention are similar to ideas from the 19  Century! 
                     
                    In order to clarify this historical perspective for students we identify three key influences 
                    of early sociology: 
                     
                               classical criminology 
                               positivism  
                               Durkheim. 
                     
                    Classical criminology 
                     
                    Arising out of the philosophy of the Enlightenment, classical criminology was concerned, 
                    above all, with producing a more rational criminal justice system.  It was argued that 
                    society was a contract; crime breached that contract and was therefore, a moral and a 
                    political issue requiring state control. However, that control should be rational and just. 
                    For example, laws should be clear, a person must be presumed innocent until proved 
                    guilty,  criminal  justice  had  to  be  consistent  not  arbitrary  and,  where  possible,  crime 
                    control should be characterised more by reform than by punishment of the body. 
                     
                        
                       classical criminology: key assumptions 
                        
                             the focus was on the criminal act 
                        
                             there were no essential differences between criminals and non-criminals, criminals 
                             have free will and choose to commit crimes 
                        
                             punishment should fit the crime 
                     
                     
                     
                     
                    The ideas of classical criminology underpin the criminal justice system in most western 
                    societies and also make many of the same assumptions as recent approaches to crime 
                    control.   
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
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                                                                       Crime and Deviance  
                    Positivism 
                     
                     
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                    While classical criminology influenced the judicial system, by the later part of the 19  
                    Century the new social sciences developing in universities were becoming increasingly 
                    interested in the causes of crime. This work was underpinned by positivist ideas of the 
                    similarities between the social and the natural sciences. Crime was a technical problem 
                    and not a moral or political one. It was caused by some ‘defect’ and once you knew the 
                    cause you could put it right, rather like a mechanic can repair a faulty car. Of course, 
                    positivists differed in where they located the origins of that defect: 
                     
                               in biological theory, the defect was to be found in the body 
                               in psychological theory, it was in the mind 
                               in early social theory it was less evidence of a defective individual than a defective 
                               environment  [a longstanding theme in a variety of sociological approaches] 
                     
                     
                          
                         positivism: key assumptions 
                          
                          
                               the focus was on the criminal  
                          
                               criminals were different from non-criminals  [determinism] 
                          
                               punishments (treatments) should fit the offender 
                          
                          
                          
                     
                     
                     
                    positivism and classical criminology: continuing issues 
                     
                    The differences between classical criminology and positivism are important because they 
                    are still being played out in three longstanding debates in our thinking about crime and 
                    deviance.  
                     
                     
                               Should the focus be on the crime or the criminal? 
                     
                               Is crime ‘chosen’ or ‘determined’? 
                     
                               Should the primary focus be on the causes of crime or its control? 
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
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